Enzo "Santi" Laste Valenzuela


Somewhere outside the Compound
Africa


Condor's Overwatch


With Santi popping the drone up, he brought his NVGs off and switched to an FPV set of glasses, using them over a tablet in the night and clipping them. They were a little less light-polluting than the tablet would, be especially in the night. And while the regular camera would be useless, the thermal imaging was about to be extremely useful.

Sitting down, Santi used the blacked out tablet and an adapted joystick to take the drone above the forest canopy, whizzing out of sound and keeping a low orbit. Equipped with a FLIR thermal imaging camera, the drone worked in white hot, with Santi flicking to black hot to make out the buildings and structures in depth and detail better. He took a good amount of time to take it in, making a survey through the small quadrotor.

"This is Condor, drone has eyes on compound. I have two four-man patrols, northern end and southern end of the village making sweeps. Armed with AKs and an RPK in each group. Looks like they've got a Hilux with a DShK on the back of it and another one without it. Most of the village is lights out, asleep. Truck with an HMG wasn't in the plan." Santi described, bringing the drone around for another sweep, clinical now, and making acutely aware his discomfort of such as large gun being in the village at this time. Inaccurate as it was, it fired big rounds, most of all, rounds that would penetrate clay.

"Eyes on compound internals. Two guards on the gate, looking distracted. No sightlines to anyone else. Two more men by a fire inside, which means that it leaves the rest inside. No view on that, garage is open and looks like they're missing guards at the side gate." Santi called out, looking at the lay of the land.

"Confirm on CCTV on the buildings, in the locations identified from earlier. They're all as described. They look like they have significant deadzones, cannot ascertain their angles but it looks like you can avoid them once spotted." Santi called out, zooming in with the FLIR, watching for anyone else, steering the drone around another angle.

"Looks like another pickup truck in the compound itself too. Still hot, it must have been running so either they have less, or more skinnies inside." Santi added, adjusting his helmet a little as he kept the drone in loiter, popping off his goggles and moving at a brisk jog towards the team, keeping tail end covered, avoiding separation.

"On station if you need more intel. Looks like a quiet night for us. Not unless that MG opens up." Santi uttered into the comms, flicking off the glasses and putting the drone in a higher position on the opposite side of their angle of attack and as high as he felt comfortable putting it, aware he would need it on station to monitor activity. He networked it to his phone, placing the device on a holder on his chest rig, allowing him to flip to it and flip out, and giving Megan and anyone with the frequency the same.

Santi felt prepared, ready for this. The team was made of professionals, and while they were more geared, probably more experienced in conventional warfare, Santi already felt like he had a feel of this warzone.

The eye in the sky watched, and with it, all enemies outside were on sight, and seen, the ones that at least Santi could get to. Condor struck again.